Determining blockchain ledger indicates notification availability for an application

ABSTRACT

Notification system using a blockchain system. A method of the disclosure includes determining, by a node of a blockchain system, that a notification is available for an application of a computing device. The application is associated with a service platform. The method also includes updating a ledger of the blockchain system to indicate that the notification for the application is available.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/388,749, filed Apr. 18, 2019, the contents of which are incorporatedby reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to notifications, and moreparticularly, to a notification system using a blockchain system.

BACKGROUND

Various types of applications may be installed on the computing device.For example, an email application may allow a user to send and receiveemails. In another example, a chat application may allow a user to sendand receive messages (e.g., chat messages, text messages, etc.).Examples of applications include email applications, chat or messagingapplications, social media applications, streaming media applications,ride sharing applications, financial applications, etc. Each applicationmay be associated with a service platform (which may also be referred toas an application platform). The service platform may provide anapplication to a computing device (e.g., allow the computing device todownload and install the application). The service platform may alsocommunicate data with the application to allow the application toexecute or operate. For example, a service platform may transmit emailmessages to an email application. In another example, a service platformmay transmit streaming media to a streaming media application. In afurther example, a service platform may transmit social media messages(e.g., social media posts) to a social media application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The described embodiments and the advantages thereof may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings in no waylimit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the describedembodiments by one skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the described embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates an example systemarchitecture, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates an example ledger, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method of communicating a notification toan application, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method of communicating a notification toan application, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method of communicating a notification toan application, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example apparatus that may perform oneor more of the operations described herein, in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example computing device that mayperform one or more of the operations described herein, in accordancewith some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, various types of applications may be installed onthe computing device. Examples of applications include emailapplications, chat or messaging applications, social media applications,streaming media applications, ride sharing applications, financialapplications, etc. Each application may be associated with a serviceplatform (e.g., an application platform). The service platform mayprovide an application to a computing device (e.g., allow the computingdevice to download and install the application). The service platformmay also communicate data with the application to allow the applicationto execute or operate.

The various service platforms may generate notifications (e.g.,messages) for the applications on the computing devices. Thenotifications may inform or provide the applications with informationthat may be used by the applications. For example, the notifications mayinform an application when there is data (e.g., email messages, chatmessages, etc.) available for the application. In another example, thenotification may inform an application about recommended social mediaposts, recommend streaming media, etc., for a user of the application orcomputing device. Each application may communicate with a respectiveservice platform to determine whether there are notifications for theapplication. This may cause the computing device to constantly useenergy (e.g., battery power) and processing power to communicate withthe different service platforms. For example, each application may checkat different time intervals for notifications. Because each applicationchecks for notifications at different times, a computing device may beconstantly communicating with a network (e.g., constantly transmittingor receiving data from a wireless network) which may cause the computingdevice to use more power. For example, the computing device may beunable to power down or reduce the power used by a transceiver (e.g., aradio-frequency transceiver) because the computing device will keepchecking at different times or time intervals, for notifications fordifferent applications.

A centralized server (or some other application or computer process) maybe used to provide notifications for the different applications tocomputing devices. For example, the centralized server may receive allof the notifications for the different applications (from differentservice or application platforms). A service on the computing device mayperiodically check the centralized server for notifications for theapplications on the computing device. However, the centralized servermay be under the control of a single entity, which may result in privacyconcerns or issues. For example, a user may not prefer to give a singleentity access to all of the notifications for all of the applications onthe user's computing device. In addition, using a centralized server orsystem may result in problems if portions of the centralized server orsystem become inoperable. For example, if the centralized server hasnetwork connectivity issues, or if the centralized server fails (e.g.,crashes, becomes inoperable, etc.), then the computing devices may notbe able to access notifications for their respective applications.

The present disclosure addresses the above-noted and other deficienciesby using a blockchain system. The blockchain system may include a ledgerthat is distributed across all of the nodes in the blockchain system(e.g., a distributed ledger). The distributed ledger may include arecord of notifications generated for various applications on variouscomputing device. The entries of the ledgers (which may store thenotifications) are encrypted to help prevent unauthorized access. Eachcomputing device may use a notification component to access thedistributed ledger to determine whether there are notificationsavailable for the applications on the computing device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates an example systemarchitecture 100, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The system architecture 100 includes a network 105,computing devices 110, service platforms 120, service platforms 125, anda blockchain system 130. As discussed above, the service platforms 120and service platforms 125 may generate notifications for theapplications 111 that are on the computing devices 110. Thenotifications may provide information to the applications 111 or maycause the applications 111 to perform certain actions, functions,operations, etc.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the system architecture includes a blockchainsystem 130. In one embodiment, the blockchain system 130 may be a systemthat uses a ledger 133 to record transactions (e.g., transmittingmessages, processing messages, results of actions, etc.) in the system.The ledger 133 includes a plurality of blocks which are linked togetherand are secured using cryptographic functions. For example, each blockmay include a hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and other data(e.g., a copy of the message, a result, etc.). The blockchain system 130includes a set of nodes 131 (e.g., one or more nodes 131, a plurality ofnodes 131, etc.) coupled to each other via a network 105. Network 105may be a public network (e.g., the internet), a private network (e.g., alocal area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN)), or a combinationthereof. In one embodiment, network 105 may include a wired or awireless infrastructure, which may be provided by one or more wirelesscommunications systems, such as wireless fidelity (WiFi) connectivity tothe network 105 and/or a wireless carrier system that can be implementedusing various data processing equipment, communication towers (e.g. celltowers), etc. The network 105 may carry communications (e.g., data,message, packets, frames, etc.) between the nodes 131 and 132, theservice platforms 120 and 125, and the computing devices 110.

A node 131 may be a combination of one or more computing devices. Acomputing device may be any suitable type of computing device or machinethat has a programmable processor including, for example, servercomputers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers,smartphones, set-top boxes, etc. In some examples, a computing devicemay comprise a single machine or may include multiple interconnectedmachines (e.g., multiple servers configured in a cluster). A node 131may also be one or more virtual environments. In one embodiment, avirtual environment 113 may be a virtual machine (VM) that may executeon a hypervisor which executes on top of the OS for a computing device.The hypervisor may manage system sources (including access to hardwaredevices, such as processors, memories, storage devices). The hypervisormay also emulate the hardware (or other physical resources) which may beused by the VMs to execute software/applications. In another embodiment,a virtual environment may be a container that may execute on a containerengine which executes on top of the OS for a computing device, asdiscussed in more detail below. The container engine may allow differentcontainers to share the OS of a computing device (e.g., the OS kernel,binaries, libraries, etc.). The blockchain system 130 may use the sametype or different types of virtual environments. For example, all of thenodes 131 may be VMs. In another example, all of the nodes 131 may becontainers. In a further example, some of the nodes 131 may be VMs,other nodes 131 may be containers, and other nodes may be computingdevices (or groups of computing devices).

In one embodiment, the blockchain system 130 may be a permissionedblockchain. A permissioned blockchain may be a blockchain where thenodes (e.g., nodes 131 and 132) are authenticated or given permission tobe included in the blockchain system. For example, the nodes 131 and 132may have been previously verified or authenticated with an administratoror an administrative group that manages or oversees the blockchainsystem 130. This may indicate that the nodes 131 and 132 are trusted bythe blockchain system 130 and thus security requirements or operationsfor accessing the ledger 133 that may generally be used in blockchainsystems, may be relaxed or reduced. For example, the computational task(e.g., a computational challenge) for creating new entries may beremoved or the complexity of the computational task may be reduced.

In another embodiment, the blockchain system 130 may be apermission-less blockchain. A permission-less blockchain may be ablockchain where the nodes (e.g., nodes 131 and 132) are not previouslyauthenticated or given permission to be included in the blockchainsystem. Thus, any node (e.g., any computing device, any server computer,etc.) may join the blockchain system and attempt to create entries inthe ledger 133.

The blockchain system 130 may reach a consensus (e.g., a majorityagreement) about the ledger 133 (e.g., the content of the ledger 133 orthe content of the entries) using various functions, algorithms,operations, etc. For example, a Byzantine fault tolerance algorithm maybe used by the nodes 131 and 132 to reach a consensus if different nodeshave different version of the ledger 133. In another example, the nodes131 and 132 may rotate between each other when creating entries in theledger 133. For example, after a period of time has passed, a node 131and 132 that has not written to the ledger 133 may be allowed to createan entry in the ledger. This may be referred to as a proof of time or aproof of elapsed time system to allow nodes to update the ledger 133. Ina further example, the nodes 131 and 132 may also provide collateral tobe allowed to update the ledger 133. For example, an entity, company,organization, etc., that owns or manages the nodes 131 and 132 may pay adeposit to be allowed to be included in the blockchain system 130 and toaccess the ledger 133. The entity may be able to get the deposit back ifthe entity does not perform unauthorized or inappropriateoperation/actions. For example, if the entity does not attempt to addincorrect information to the ledger 133, the entity may obtain a rewardfor its participation in maintaining and updating the ledger'sinformation and may be able to recoup the deposit if the entity nolonger wants to participate in the blockchain system 130. If the entitydoes attempt to add incorrect information to the ledger 133, the entitymay lose the deposit. This may be referred to as a proof of stakesystem.

In one embodiment, the ledger 133 (e.g., a distributed ledger) may be arecord of the notifications that are generated by the service platforms120 and the service platforms 125 for the different applications 111 onthe computing devices 110. For example, an entry (e.g., a record, ablock, etc.) may be added to the ledger 133 each time a notification isgenerated by a service platform 120 or 125. In another example, an entrymay include multiple notifications generated by a service platform 120or 125. Each ledger 133 may be stored in a data store (not illustratedin the figures) of a respective node 131. A data store may include apersistent storage. A persistent storage may be one or more devices thatare capable of storing data. A persistent storage may be a local storageunit or a remote storage unit. Persistent storage may be a magneticstorage unit, optical storage unit, solid state storage unit, electronicstorage units (main memory, cache, random access memory (RAM)), orsimilar storage unit. Persistent storage may also be a monolithic/singledevice or a distributed set of devices.

In one embodiment the ledger 133 may be used to store entries thatindicate whether notifications are available for multiple serviceplatforms. For example, the ledger 133 may include entries that indicatewhether notifications are available for service platforms 120 andservice platforms 125. In another embodiment (not illustrated in thefigures), the blockchain system 130 may include one ledger for eachservice platform 120 and each service platform 125. In a furtherembodiment (not illustrated in the figures) the blockchain system 130may include one ledger for each user of the computing devices 110, orfor each computing device 110.

In another embodiment, a node 131 or a node 132 may periodically removeentries in the ledger 133. For example, after a threshold period of timehas elapsed after an entry is created (e.g., after a few hours, a fewdays two weeks, or some other appropriate period of time), a node 131 ora node 132 may remove old entries. This node 131 or node 132 may removethese entries because the notifications included in or indicated bythese entries may have already been provided to the applications 111. Insome embodiments, the nodes 131 or 132 may check whether thenotifications have been provided to the applications 111 before deletingthe entries. For example, the nodes 131 or 132 may communicate with theservice providers 120 and 125 to determine whether the notificationshave been provided to the applications 111.

In one embodiment, the blockchain system may use asymmetric encryptionto write information to and read information from the ledger. Asymmetricencryption may also be referred to as public/private key encryption. Forexample, a service platform 120 may use a public key of a computingdevice 110 or an application 111 to encrypt an entry or a portion of anentry in the ledger 133. The corresponding private key (of thepublic/private key pair) of the computing device 110 or the application111 may be used to decrypt entry or the portion of the entry. Usingasymmetric encryption (e.g., public/private key encryption) allows theledger 133 to securely and privately indicate to computing devices 110that notifications for one or more applications 111 are available, eventhough the ledger 133 may be accessible by all of the nodes 131, 132, orcomputing devices 110. For example, even though multiple serviceplatforms 120 or multiple computing devices 110 may have access to theledger 133, the entries (or portions of entries) are encrypted toprevent unauthorized access to the entries (e.g., to prevent anotherservice platform 120 or another computing device 110 from readying anentry in the ledger 133).

In some embodiments, the use of a computationally expensive task whencreating entries in the ledgers 133 may be reduced or relaxed, due tothe use of the ledger 133 for notification purposes. A generalblockchain system may use a computationally expensive task (e.g., a taskthat uses a large amount of processing power or capability, such ascomputer large hashes, large numbers, etc.) to help maintain theauthenticity or integrity of a ledger (e.g., a distributed ledger).Relaxing or reducing the computational task may allow the blockchainsystem 130 to create entries more quickly which may be useful becausenotifications for the applications 111 may be generated frequently(e.g., hundreds, thousands, or millions may be generated per fewseconds).

In one embodiment, a node 131 may determine that a notification isavailable for an application 111 executing on a computing device 110.For example, the node 131 may be part of a service platform 120. Theservice platform 120 may be associated with the application 111. Forexample, the application 111 may be installed from or provided by theservice platform 120. In another example, the application 111 maycommunicate data with the service platform 120 when the applicationperforms various actions, operations, functions, etc. Because the node131 may be part of the service platform 120, the node 131 may be awarewhen a notification is available for an application 111. For example, ifthe service platform 120 is an email or messaging platform, the serviceplatform 120 may be aware when a user of a computing device 110 receivesan email or message. The service platform 120 may generate anotification for an application 111 (e.g., an email or chat application)to indicate that the user has receive an email or message.

In one embodiment, a node 132 may determine that a notification isavailable for an application 111 executing on a computing device 110. Asillustrated in FIG. 1 , the nodes 132 are not part of a serviceplatform. For example, the nodes 132 may be computing devices, VMs,container, etc., that are separate from any service platform 120. Aservice platform 125 may be a service platform that does not have a nodethat is part of the blockchain system 130. The service platform 125 maytransmit a message (or other data) to a node 132 to indicate that anotification is available for an application 111 (that is associatedwith the service platform 125) on a computing device 110. The node 132may receive the message and determine that a notification is availablefor the application 111. The message may include any combination ofidentifiers for one or more applications 111, identifiers for computingdevices 110, and identifiers for users of the computing devices 110.

In one embodiment, a node 131 or a node 132 may update the ledger 133(e.g., a distributed ledger) to indicate that a notification isavailable for an application 111 (of a computing device 110) isavailable. For example, the node 131 or the node 132 may add an entryinto the ledger 133. The entry may include data (e.g., alphanumerictext, a message, etc.) indicating that a notification is available foran application 111. For example, the entry may include a name oridentifier for an application. In another example, the entry may includea name or identifier for a computing device 110. In a further example,the entry may include a name or identifier for a user of a computingdevice 110 (e.g., a username, an email address, an employee number,etc.). The entry may also optionally include data that may provideadditional information about the notification. For example, the entrymay include data indicating that the notification is to inform a userthat an email or message has been received. In another example, theentry may include that that the notification is to inform a user about arecommended streaming video (e.g., to recommend a streaming video to theuser). In a further example, the entry may include the content of thenotification (e.g., text, image, audio, video, other multimedia, etc.).

In one embodiment, a node 131 or a node 132 may not update the ledger133 (e.g., may not add an entry to a ledger 133) until a thresholdnumber of notifications are available. For example, the node 131 maydetermine whether a threshold number of notifications (e.g., tennotifications, fifty notifications, or some other appropriate number ofnotifications) for different applications 111 and different computingdevices 110 have been generated by the service platform 120. If thethreshold number of notifications has been generated by the serviceplatform 120, the node 131 may create an entry in the ledger 133 and mayinclude data for all of the notifications (e.g., the threshold number ofnotifications) in the new entry. For example, the node 131 may create anentry in the ledger 133 and the entry may indicate that multiplenotifications for one or more applications 111 (e.g., for the same ordifferent applications 111) are available. If the threshold number ofnotifications has not been generated by the service platform 120, thenode 131 may refrain from creating an entry in the ledger 133 until thethreshold number of notifications has been generated.

In one embodiment, a node 131 or a node 132 may not update the ledger133 (e.g., may not add an entry to a ledger 133) until a period of timehas elapsed. For example, a node 132 may determine whether ten seconds,thirty second, one minute, or some other appropriate period of time haspassed. If the period of time has elapsed, the node 132 may create anentry in the ledger 133 and may include data for all of thenotifications generated during the period of time in the new entry. Forexample, the node 132 may create an entry in the ledger 133 and theentry may indicate that multiple notifications for one or moreapplications 111 (e.g., for the same or different applications 111) areavailable. If the period of time has not elapsed, the node 131 mayrefrain from creating an entry in the ledger 133 until the period oftime has elapsed. In some embodiments, the both a threshold period oftime and a threshold number of notifications may be used. For example, anode 131 or node 132 may update a ledger if two minutes have elapsed, orif twenty notifications have been received.

In one embodiment, a node 131 or a node 132 may receive a message from acomputing device 110. The message may be a request to determine whetherone or more notifications are available for one or more application 111on the computing device 110. For example, the message may be a requestto determine whether there are notifications for an email application, amessaging application, a social media application, and a streaming mediaapplication of the computing device 110. The message received from thecomputing device 110 may include data one or more identifiers for theone or more applications 111, an identifier for the computing device110, an identifier for a user of the computing device 110. In someembodiments, the request may include multiple identifiers (e.g., for thecomputing device 110, for the user of the computing device 110, etc.).The notification component 113 may include the multiple identifiers tomake it more difficult for other users or computing devices to determinewhich identifier the notification component 113 is interested in. Forexample, the notification component 113 may include five different useridentifiers, but the notification component 113 may be interested indetermining whether there are notifications for two (or some otherappropriate number) of those identifiers). This may further increasesecurity and privacy by obscuring the subset of identifiers that thenotification component 113 is interested in.

In one embodiment, the node 131 or node 132 may determine whether theledger 133 indicates that notifications are available for the one ormore applications 111 based on the data in the message received from thecomputing device 110. For example, the node 131 or node 132 may analyzethe entries of the ledger 133 using identifiers for the one or moreapplications 111 and an identifier for the computing device 110 (or anidentifier for a user of the computing device 110, such as an emailaddress, a username, etc.). This may allow the node 131 or the node 132to determine whether entries of the ledger 133 include notifications forthe one or more applications 111.

In one embodiment, if there are notifications available for the one ormore applications 111, the node 131 or node 132 may transmit a messageto the computing device 110 indicating that one or more notificationsfor one or more applications 111 are available. For example, the node131 or the node 132 may transmit a message with data (e.g., text,numbers, lists, etc.) indicating which applications 111 havenotifications available.

In one embodiment, a computing device 110 may check the ledger 133 todetermine whether one or more notifications are available for one ormore applications 111 of the computing device 110. For example, anotification component 113 of a computing device 110 may transmit amessage to a node 131 or a node 132, and the message may be a requestfor the node 131 or node 132 to check whether there are notificationsavailable for the applications 111 of the computing device. Thenotification component 113 may receive a message with data indicatingthat there are notifications available. For example, the notificationcomponent 113 may receive a message with a list of applications 111 thathave notifications available. In another embodiment, the notificationcomponent 113 may access the ledger 133 (e.g., read the ledger 133) viaa node 131 or a node 132. For example, the notification component 113may request entries (e.g., blocks) of the ledger 133 from a node 131 andmay read the entries to determine whether notifications are availablefor the applications 111.

In one embodiment, the computing device 110 may transmit a message to aservice platform 120 or a service platform 125 in response to determinethat a notification is available for an application 111 on the computingdevice 110. For example, the notification component 113 may determinethat a first application 111 has a notification available based on oneor more entries in the ledger 133. The notification component 113 maytransmit a message to a service platform 120 (or service platform 125)that is associated with the first application 111. The message mayrequest the notification for the first application 111 from the serviceplatform 120. The service platform 120 may transmit the notification forthe first application to the computing device 110. For example, theservice platform 120 may transmit a message that includes a notificationto inform the first application 111 that email messages have beenreceived for a user of the computing device 110. The notificationcomponent 113 may provide the notification to the first application 111.In another embodiment, the notification component 113 may transmit amessage to the first application 111 indicating that notifications areavailable and the first application 111 may retrieve the notificationsfrom the service platform 120.

In one embodiment, the notification component 113 may determine whethernotifications are available for multiple (or all) applications 111 on acomputing device 110. For example, rather than having each application111 communicate separately with the different service platforms 120 and125, the notification component 113 may communicate with the nodes 131or 132. For example, the notification component 113 may transmit requestto 131 to determine whether notifications are available for a firstapplication 111 and a second application 111. The notification component113 may receive messages from the node 131 indicating that there arenotifications available for the first application 111 and the secondapplication 111. The notification component 113 may retrieve thenotifications from respective service platforms 120 or 125 for the firstapplication 111 and the second application 111.

As discussed above, the service platforms 120 and 125 may generatenotifications for the various applications 111 that are associated withthe service platforms 120 and 125. These notifications may indicatecertain information to users of the computing device. For example, thesenotifications may indicate that email or messages are available, mayindicate that a service platform 120 or 125 has performed an action, mayindicate recommendations for a user, etc. If each application 111 wereto communicate with the different service platforms 120 and 125separately, this may cause a computing device 110 to use more energy andcomputing power. For example, each of the applications 111 may check fornotifications at different time intervals. This may cause the computingdevice 110 to constantly use energy (e.g., battery power) and processingpower to communicate with the different service platforms 120 and 125,as discussed above. For example, the computing device 110 may beconstantly transmitting and receiving radio-frequency signals becausedifferent applications 111 may check for notifications at different timeintervals, which may not allow the computing device 110 to save power bypowering down a radio-frequency transceiver. The notification component113 may determine whether there are notifications for the applications111 using periodic communications. Because the notification component113 sends the communications, the applications 111 may not check fornotifications are their respective, different intervals. Instead, theapplications 111 may wait for notifications from the notificationcomponent 113 or may wait until the notification component 113 informsthe applications 111 that there are notifications available. This allowsthe computing device 110 to reduce the number of communications (e.g.,number of messages) with the service platforms 120 and 125 which reducesthe energy and computing power used by the computing device 110. Forexample, if the notification component 113 checks for notifications forall of the applications 111 every one minute (or other appropriateperiod of time), the computing device 110 may be able to power down aradio-frequency transceiver in between the one minute intervals, toreduce the power used by the computing device 110.

In one embodiment, the blockchain system 130 may allow for thenotifications generated by different service platforms 120 and 125 to beaccessible at a single location or source. In addition, the blockchainsystem 130 may prevent the loss of notifications because the ledger 133is distributed across multiple nodes 131 and 132. For example, there maybe hundreds, thousands, or some appropriate number of nodes 131 and 132,which may store a copy of the ledger 133. This prevents the systemarchitecture 100 from suffering an outage and being unable to process orreceive notifications, because it may be very unlikely for all of thenodes 131 and 132 to become inoperable (e.g., to crash, to go down,etc.). In addition, the entries of the ledger 133 are encrypted (e.g.,via public/private keys) which prevents a single entity or a singlesystem from having access to all of the notifications for a user or acomputing device 110. Furthermore, the security of the blockchain system130 (e.g., the encryption, the calculation for creating entries/blocks,the majority agreement or voting on the content of the ledger 133) mayallow the list of notifications to be stored more securely and to bemore resistant to tampering or fraud (e.g., malicious users modifyingnotifications, deleting notifications, or adding fake notifications).Lastly, the distributed nature of the blockchain system 130 may allow acomputing device 110 to obtain notifications more quickly. For example,the nodes 131 and 132 may be distributed geographically such that a node131 may be closer to a computing device 110 or may be faster to access,than a service platform 120. This may allow the computing device 110 toobtain the notifications more quickly. In addition, if a particular node131 or 132 used by a computing device 110 to retrieve notifications doesbecome inoperable or in accessible, the distributed nature of theblockchain system 130 may allow the computing device 110 to retrievenotifications via another node 131 or 132.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates an example ledger 133, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The ledger133 may also be referred to as a distributed ledger. Copies of theledger 133 may be stored on nodes of a blockchain system. For example,each node of the blockchain system may store a copy of the ledger 133,as discussed above. In one embodiment, the distribute ledger 133 may bea record of notifications that are generated for applications ofcomputing devices, as discussed above.

A service platform may generate a notification for an application of acomputing device, as discussed above. For example, a notification mayinform an email application that new emails for a user have beenreceived. In another example, a notification may inform a social mediaapplication that new social media posts have been posted to a socialmedia platform. In one embodiment, a first node may create block 210 inthe ledger 133, each time a notification is generated for anapplication. The block 210 may include notification data 211. Thenotification data 211 may include one or more of an identifier for anapplication, an identifier for a computing device, an identifier for auser of a computing device, and additional data (e.g., the content of anotification). The notification data 211 may also include the content ofa notification. For example, the notification data 211 may include text,audio, video, etc.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 , each entry 210 of the ledger 133 may includemultiple notification data 211. Each notification data 211 may be for anotification for an application of a computing device. Thus, each entry210 may include multiple notifications for multiple applications onmultiple computing devices. In other embodiments, each entry 210 mayinclude one notification for one application on one computing device.

In some embodiments, one or more entries 210 may be removed (e.g.,deleted) from the ledger 133, as discussed above. For example, the firstentry 210 may include notification data 211 for notifications that havealready been delivered or provided to their respective applications ontheir respective computing devices. A node in the blockchain system maydetermine that these notifications have already been delivered (e.g.,may transmit messages to the service platforms to confirm that thenotifications have been delivered) and may remove the first entry 210.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method 300 of communicating a notificationto an application, in accordance with some embodiments. Method 300 maybe performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g.,circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, a processor, aprocessing device, a central processing unit (CPU), a system-on-chip(SoC), etc.), software (e.g., instructions running/executing on aprocessing device), firmware (e.g., microcode), or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the method 300 may be performed by a node(e.g., node 131 illustrated in FIG. 1 ), and/or one or more computingdevices.

The method 300 begins at block 305, where the method 300 determines thata notification is available for an application of a computing device.For example, the method 300 may receive a message of some other datafrom a service platform indicating that a notification has beengenerated for an application on a computing device. In another example,the method 300 may be aware that a notification is available or has beengenerated for an application because the method 300 may be performed bya computing device of a service platform. At block 310, the method 300may update a ledger (e.g., a distributed ledger). The method 300 mayupdate the distributed ledger to indicate that a notification isavailable for the application. For example, the method 300 may add anentry with notification data to the ledger 300. The method 300 mayconsolidate multiple notifications (e.g., wait until there are athreshold number of notifications) into one entry, as discussed above.The method 300 may also periodically create a new entry (e.g., create anew entry every ten seconds or some other appropriate period of time),as discussed above.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method 400 of communicating a notificationto an application, in accordance with some embodiments. Method 400 maybe performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g.,circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, a processor, aprocessing device, a central processing unit (CPU), a system-on-chip(SoC), etc.), software (e.g., instructions running/executing on aprocessing device), firmware (e.g., microcode), or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the method 400 may be performed by a node(e.g., node 131 illustrated in FIG. 1 ), and/or one or more computingdevices.

The method 400 begins at block 405, where the method 400 receives amessage from a computing device to determine whether one or morenotifications are available for one or more applications on thecomputing device (e.g., one or more applications executing on thecomputing device). The message may include a combination of anidentifier for the computing device, an identifier for a user of thecomputing device, and one or more identifiers for the one or moreapplications. At block 410, the method 400 determines that the ledgerindicates that one or more notifications are available. For example, themethod 400 may analyze entries of the ledger and may determine whetherthere are entries that include an identifier for a first application onthe computing device and/or an identifier for the user of the computingdevice. At block 415, the method 400 may transmit a message indicatingthat one or more notifications are available. For example, the method400 may transmit a message with a list of entries that include thenotifications. In another example, the method 400 may transmit thenotifications to the computing device (e.g., may transmit the entries,which may be fully or partially encrypted, to the computing device).

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method 500 of communicating a notificationto an application, in accordance with some embodiments. Method 500 maybe performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g.,circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, a processor, aprocessing device, a central processing unit (CPU), a system-on-chip(SoC), etc.), software (e.g., instructions running/executing on aprocessing device), firmware (e.g., microcode), or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the method 500 may be performed by anotification component (e.g., notification component 113 illustrated inFIG. 1 ) and/or one or more computing devices.

The method 500 begins at block 505, where the method 500 checks a ledger(e.g., a distributed ledger) to determine whether one or morenotifications are available for one or more applications of a computingdevice. The ledger may be part of a blockchain system as discussedabove. For example, the method 500 may transmit a message with acombination of an identifier for the computing device, an identifier fora user of the computing device, and one or more identifiers for the oneor more applications. In response to determining that there is a firstnotification for a first application, the method 500 may transmit amessage to a first service platform associated with the firstapplication to request the first notification at block 510. For example,the method 500 may transmit a message with a first applicationidentifier and a user identifier to the first service platform. Themethod 500 may also transmit additional messages to additional serviceplatforms if the method 500 determines that there are additionalnotifications available for the additional applications. In otherembodiments, the method 500 may transmit a request for the notifications(e.g., entries in the ledger) to one or more nodes of the blockchainsystem at block 510. At block 515, the method 500 may receive the firstnotification from the first service platform (e.g., may receive anotification indicating that new emails have been received, may receivea notification recommending a product or streaming media content, etc.).The method 500 may also receive additional notifications for additionalapplications from additional service platforms if there are multiplenotifications available. In addition, at block 515, the nodes of theblockchain system may also transmit the entries in response to therequest transmitted at block 510. At block 520, the method 500 mayprovide the notification to the first application. For example, themethod 500 may transmit the notification to the first application sothat the first application may provide, display, or present thenotification to a user of the computing device. The method 500 may alsoprovide additional notifications to the additional applications if thereare multiple notifications available.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example apparatus 620 that may performone or more of the operations described herein, in accordance with someembodiments. The apparatus may include a node 612 of a block chainsystem 610. The apparatus 620 includes a memory 625 that sores data 626.The apparatus 620 also includes a processing device 621 operativelycoupled to the memory 625. The processing device 621 may determine thata notification is available for an application 630 of the apparatus 620.The application 630 may be associated with a service platform 635. Theprocessing device 621 may also update a ledger 650 of the blockchainsystem to indicate that the notification for the application isavailable.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexample form of a computer system 700 within which a set ofinstructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternativeembodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines in a local area network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, or theInternet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a webappliance, a server, a network router, a switch or bridge, a hub, anaccess point, a network access control device, or any machine capable ofexecuting a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a singlemachine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines that individually or jointly executea set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein. In one embodiment, computer system700 may be representative of node, such as node 131 illustrated in FIG.1 .

The exemplary computer system 700 includes a processing device 702, amain memory 704 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), a static memory 706 (e.g., flash memory,static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storage device718, which communicate with each other via a bus 730. Any of the signalsprovided over various buses described herein may be time multiplexedwith other signals and provided over one or more common buses.Additionally, the interconnection between circuit components or blocksmay be shown as buses or as single signal lines. Each of the buses mayalternatively be one or more single signal lines and each of the singlesignal lines may alternatively be buses.

Processing device 702 represents one or more general-purpose processingdevices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like.More particularly, the processing device may be complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computer (RISC)microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, orprocessor implementing other instruction sets, or processorsimplementing a combination of instruction sets. Processing device 702may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor,or the like. The processing device 702 is configured to executeprocessing logic 726, which may be one example of node 131, node 132, ornotification component 113 of FIG. 1 , for performing the operations andsteps discussed herein.

The data storage device 718 may include a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium 728, on which is stored one or more setof instructions 722 (e.g., software) embodying any one or more of themethodologies of functions described herein, including instructions tocause the processing device 702 to execute node 131, node 132, ornotification component 113. The instructions 722 may also reside,completely or at least partially, within the main memory 704 or withinthe processing device 702 during execution thereof by the computersystem 700; the main memory 704 and the processing device 702 alsoconstituting machine-readable storage media. The instructions 722 mayfurther be transmitted or received over a network 720 via the networkinterface device 708.

The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium 728 may also be usedto store instructions to perform a method for multi-level taskdebugging, as described herein. While the non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium 728 is shown in an exemplary embodimentto be a single medium, the term “non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media(e.g., a centralized or distributed database, or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium includes any mechanism forstoring information in a form (e.g., software, processing application)readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). The non-transitorymachine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magneticstorage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); optical storage medium (e.g.,CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read-only memory (ROM);random-access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROMand EEPROM); flash memory; or another type of medium suitable forstoring electronic instructions.

The preceding description sets forth numerous specific details such asexamples of specific systems, components, methods, and so forth, inorder to provide a good understanding of several embodiments of thepresent disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art,however, that at least some embodiments of the present disclosure may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knowncomponents or methods are not described in detail or are presented insimple block diagram format in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuringthe present disclosure. Thus, the specific details set forth are merelyexemplary. Particular embodiments may vary from these exemplary detailsand still be contemplated to be within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Additionally, some embodiments may be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where the non-transitory machine-readable medium is storedon and or executed by more than one computer system. In addition, theinformation transferred between computer systems may either be pulled orpushed across the communication medium connecting the computer systems.

Embodiments of the claimed subject matter include, but are not limitedto, various operations described herein. These operations may beperformed by hardware components, software, firmware, or a combinationthereof.

Although the operations of the methods herein are shown and described ina particular order, the order of the operations of each method may bealtered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse orderor so that certain operation may be performed, at least in part,concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructionsor sub-operations of distinct operations may be in an intermittent oralternating manner.

The above description of illustrated implementations of the invention,including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.While specific implementations of, and examples for, the invention aredescribed herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalentmodifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as thoseskilled in the relevant art will recognize. The words “example” or“exemplary” are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, orillustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “example” or“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the words“example” or “exemplary” is intended to present concepts in a concretefashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to meanan inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unlessspecified otherwise, or clear from context, “X includes A or B” isintended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, ifX includes A; X includes B; or X includes both A and B, then “X includesA or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition,the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform. Moreover, use of the term “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or“an implementation” or “one implementation” throughout is not intendedto mean the same embodiment or implementation unless described as such.Furthermore, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc. asused herein are meant as labels to distinguish among different elementsand may not necessarily have an ordinal meaning according to theirnumerical designation.

It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined intomany other different systems or applications. Various presentlyunforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, orimprovements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in theart which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.The claims may encompass embodiments in hardware, software, or acombination thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: determining, by a node of ablockchain system, that a notification is available for an applicationof a computing device, wherein the application is associated with aservice platform and associated with the computing device; determining,by the node of the blockchain system, that a threshold number ofnotifications for a plurality of applications are available; andupdating, by the node of the blockchain system, a ledger of theblockchain system, in response to determining that the threshold numberof notifications for the plurality of applications are available, toindicate that the notification for the application is available, whereinthe ledger further indicates a plurality of notifications for aplurality of applications associated with a plurality of serviceplatforms and associated with a plurality of computing devices.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the computing device does not have permissionto update the ledger.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a first message from the computing device to determine whetherone or more notifications for one or more applications of the computingdevice are available; determining that the ledger indicates that thenotification for the application is available; and transmitting a secondmessage indicating that the notification is available to the computingdevice.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the service platform comprisesthe node of the blockchain system.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinupdating the ledger comprises: adding an entry to the ledger, whereinthe entry comprises an indication that the notification for theapplication is available.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein adding theentry comprises: determining whether a period of time has elapsed; andadding the entry in response to determining that the period of time haselapsed.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining thatthe ledger indicates that one or more additional notifications for oneor more additional applications are available; and transmitting amessage indicating that the one or more additional notifications areavailable.
 8. A method, comprising: checking, by a processing device, aledger of a blockchain system to determine whether one or morenotifications are available for one or more applications of a computingdevice, wherein the ledger further indicates a plurality ofnotifications for a plurality of applications associated with aplurality of service platforms and associated with a plurality ofcomputing devices; determining, by the processing device, that athreshold number of notifications for the plurality of applications areavailable; updating, by the processing device, the ledger of theblockchain system, in response to determining that the threshold numberof notifications for the plurality of applications are available;transmitting a first message to a first service platform associated witha first application of the computing device to request a firstnotification in response to determining that the first notification isavailable for the first application; and receiving the firstnotification from the first service platform.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein checking the ledger of the blockchain system comprises:transmitting a second message to the blockchain system to determinewhether the one or more notifications for the one or more applicationsof the computing device are available; and receiving a third messagefrom the blockchain system indicating that the first notification isavailable for the first application of the computing device.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the second message is transmitted by anotification component of the computing device, wherein the notificationcomponent is to determine whether notifications for multipleapplications of the computing device are available.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the notification component is further to: provide thefirst notification to the first application.
 12. The method of claim 9,wherein the second message further indicates that a second notificationis available for a second application of the computing device andwherein the method further comprises: transmitting a fourth message to asecond service platform associated with the second application torequest the second notification; and receiving the second notificationfrom the second service platform.
 13. An apparatus comprisingcomprising: a memory to store data; and a processing device, operativelycoupled to the memory, the processing device to: determine that anotification is available for an application of a computing device,wherein the application is associated with a service platform andassociated with the computing device; determine that a threshold numberof notifications for a plurality of applications are available; andupdate a ledger of a blockchain system, in response to determining thatthe threshold number of notifications for the plurality of applicationsare available, to indicate that the notification for the application isavailable, wherein the ledger further indicates a plurality ofnotifications for a plurality of applications associated with aplurality of service platforms and associated with a plurality ofcomputing devices.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processingdevice is further to: receive a first message from the computing deviceto determine whether one or more notifications for one or moreapplications of the computing device are available; and determine thatthe ledger indicates that the notification for the application isavailable; and transmit a second message indicating that thenotification is available to the computing device.
 15. The apparatus ofclaim 13, wherein to determine that the notification is available theprocessing device is further to: receive, from the service platform by anode of the blockchain system, a message indicating that thenotification is available, wherein the service platform is separate fromthe blockchain system.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein theservice platform comprises a node of the blockchain system.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein to update the ledger the processingdevice is further to: add an entry to the ledger, wherein the entrycomprises an indication that the notification for the application isavailable.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the entry furthercomprises one or more of: an identifier for the computing device; anidentifier for a user of the computing device; and an identifier for theapplication.